Unlocking the Truth explained

Unlocking the Truth
Background:group_or_band
Landscape:yes
Origin:Brooklyn, New York, United States
Years Active:2007–2020
Label:Independent
Past Members:Malcolm Brickhouse
Jarad Dawkins
Alec Atkins

Unlocking the Truth was an American heavy metal band from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2007, the group consisted of Malcolm Brickhouse (guitars, vocals, key songwriter, composer), Jarad Dawkins (drums), and Alec Atkins (bass).

History

Founding members Malcolm Brickhouse (guitar, vocals) and Jarad Dawkins (drums), then in pre-school, met each other at a birthday party in 2005. Sharing similar tastes in music, they decided to create a band.[1] They felt their band needed a bassist but none of their friends were musicians, so they taught their school friend Alec Atkins how to play bass from scratch. Their street performances in Times Square and around New York City led to people recording and uploading videos of them to YouTube and social media.

While still in their early teens, the band appeared on national television, including NBC's The Tonight Show, ABC's The View, CNN, Fuse, BET, and Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. In 2014, they were the youngest group to perform at Coachella.[2] They performed at the Afropunk Festival,[3] SXSW, and were the youngest band to play at the 2014 Vans Warped Tour.[4] They also performed at the music festivals Heavy Montréal and Bonnaroo.

Unlocking the Truth supported Guns N' Roses, Motörhead, Queens of the Stone Age, Living Colour, Slash and Marilyn Manson,[5] while also appearing in commercials for Airheads, AT&T, Beats by Dr. Dre, Maybelline and Verizon.[6] The band was featured in Spin,[7] Revolver,[8] Guitar World, Rolling Stone,[9] New York Daily News,[10] Village Voice,[11] New York Post,[12] New York Times,[13] Los Angeles Times,[14] Huffington Post, and Loudwire, all while attending middle school and then high school.

In 2014, the band signed a $1.8 million contract for five albums with Sony Music Entertainment.[15] Due to the age of the members of the band, the contract had to be approved by the New York Supreme Court.[16] In 2015, the band successfully negotiated their release from the contract with the label.[17] In April 2016, the band announced the release of their full-length debut album, Chaos. The album was released on June 17, 2016 via TuneCore. A feature-length documentary film about the band, entitled Breaking a Monster, was released in the summer of 2016. Loudwire premiered their first music video "Take Control".[18]

They released a few more singles, "My Chains" (2017), "Come Closer" (2018), "Mama" (2018) and "Pretend" (2019). In January 2020, it was announced the band had ended and frontman Malcolm Brickhouse would be pursuing a solo career under the moniker Malxolm Brixkhouse.[19] [20] [21] He released the song "Rapture" in September 2021.[22]

Style and influences

Unlocking the Truth's sound has been described as "a salute to old-school metal that also blends modern influences."[23] In the Los Angeles Times, Randall Roberts wrote of their Coachella performance as "a hard, distorted blend of metal, speed punk and alternative rock on the main stage, they were as well-practiced as units three times their age."[24] Artist Direct says "they are the future of music."[25] The band has cited influences such as Metallica, Slipknot, Disturbed, Living Colour, Escape the Fate, Chelsea Grin, and Motionless in White.[26]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Members

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Zimmerman. Neetzan. Internet-Famous Preteen Metalheads Are Being Bullied for Being Awesome. Gawker.com. September 20, 2014.
  2. Web site: Barkan. Jonathan. Youngest Group To Ever Perform At Coachella Is A Metal Band. April 10, 2014 . Bloody-disgusting.com. September 20, 2014.
  3. Web site: Unlocking The Truth. Afropunkfest.com. September 20, 2014.
  4. Web site: Teitelman. Bram. Preteen trio Unlocking The Truth to play Coachella, Warped Tour. April 11, 2014 . Metalinsider.net. September 20, 2014.
  5. Web site: Unlocking The Truth News. . December 29, 2014.
  6. Web site: Eighth Grade Band Unlocking the Truth Signs $1.7 Million Sony Deal - Us Weekly. July 15, 2014. Usmagazine.com. December 29, 2014.
  7. Web site: Mini Masters of Reality: Unlocking the Truth Plot Metal's Future From Their Parents' Basement. SPIN. December 29, 2014.
  8. Web site: Teen Metal Band Unlocking the Truth Appears on 'The Colbert Report' — Video. Revolvermag.com. December 29, 2014.
  9. Eighth Grade Metal Band Unlocking the Truth Plots Future After Seven-Figure Record Deal - Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. July 14, 2014 . December 29, 2014.
  10. Web site: Teen metal group Unlocking the Truth scores book deal. NY Daily News. December 29, 2014.
  11. Web site: At Metal School with Unlocking the Truth. Jonah Bromwich. September 11, 2012. Villagevoice.com. December 29, 2014.
  12. Web site: Marsh. Julia. Tween metal trio lands $1.8M record deal. New York Post. July 11, 2014 . September 20, 2014.
  13. News: A Heavy Metal Alloy, Fused With Youth : Unlocking the Truth Is a Band That Rocks Beyond Its Years. The New York Times. August 3, 2014 . December 29, 2014. Battan . Carrie .
  14. Web site: Coachella 2014: junior high band Unlocking the Truth looks into future. Los Angeles Times. April 12, 2014 . December 29, 2014.
  15. Web site: Underage against the machine: why labels are desperate to sign teens. January 16, 2015. The Guardian. Pattison. Louis.
  16. Web site: Kaye. Ben. 8th grade metal band lands $1.7 million record contract with Sony. July 12, 2014 . Conseqwuenceofsound.net. September 20, 2014.
  17. News: why teen metal band unlocking the truth broke a $1.8 million record deal. 2016-06-24. I-d. 2017-12-22. en-us.
  18. Web site: Childers. Chad. Unlocking the Truth, 'Take Control' – Exclusive Video Premiere. Loudwire. Townsquare Media. April 27, 2016. April 27, 2016.
  19. News: About Us. March 27, 2020. en-us.
  20. Web site: Keriena Choy. Artist Spotlight - Malxolm Brixhouse. Timbredio. April 18, 2020.
  21. Web site: Spencer Kaufman. Unlocking the Truth Break Up as Frontman Malxolm Brixkhouse Launches Solo Career. Consequence of Sound. June 30, 2020. June 29, 2020.
  22. Web site: Neilstein . Viince . 2021-09-17 . Malcolm Brickhouse (ex-Unlocking the Truth) Resurfaces with New Song, "Rapture" . 2022-08-08 . MetalSucks . en.
  23. Web site: Bansal. Andrew. Motörhead, Graveyard & Unlocking The Truth Perform At Club Nokia. April 12, 2014 . Metalassault.com. September 20, 2014.
  24. Web site: Roberts. Randall. Coachella 2014: Junior high band Unlocking the Truth glimpses future. Los Angeles Times. April 12, 2014 . September 20, 2014.
  25. Web site: Florino. Rick. Interview: Unlocking The Truth. Artistdirect.com. September 20, 2014.
  26. Web site: Macomber. Shawn. Key Influences: Unlocking Truth. Decibelmagazine.com. September 20, 2014.

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